This paper is a review of the literature about adrenal
myelolipoma. It is a rare, benign, hormonally inactive
tumor of the adrenal gland composed of mature fat tissue and hematopoietic tissue in varying amounts. Adrenal
myelolipoma is usually small (< 4 cm), unilateral and causes no clinical disorders. The age range of the affected patients is 20-90 years; most are men in their fourth to sixth decade. This tumour is discovered during autopsy or USG, CT MRI of the abdomen usually by chance and because of that is included in the group of
tumors called incidentaloma. Etiology of
myelolipoma is unclear. It is usually hormonally inactive but there were several cases in which adrenal
myelolipoma coexisted with various endocrine disorders such as
Cushing's syndrome,
Conn's syndrome,
Addison's disease,
hirsutism,
hermaphroditism, inborn deficiencies of 17- and
21-hydroxylase. It is also more frequent in patients with
obesity,
hypertension and leading stressful life. Surgical treatment is called for when the diameter of
tumor reaches more than 4 cm, tumour shows tendency to fast growth or causes clinical disorders. In cases of small lesions, that show no progression, it is advised to observe the
tumor using imaging techniques.